HTC To Buy Retail Brand

HTC, the largest manufacturer of Windows Mobile phones, announced it will take controlling interest in the Dopod brand. Currently HTC manufacturers all of Dopod's handsets, which are sold in China and other parts of Asia. This purchase would mark HTC's first entrance into the retail market; until now the company has been content to manufacture handsets and allow other companies and carriers to sell them. Every national carrier in the US sells some HTC manufactured devices under their own carrier brand. This could signal a strategic shift for the company from manufacturer to retail brand. HTC has not commented on whether they will use the Dopod brand outside of Asia, nor how that might affect carriers and other companies which sell their handsets.